The Dentist
Back in November I took James to the dentist because his first two permanent teeth were coming in behind his baby teeth, like a shark's.Our first trip to the dentist did not work out. When the assistant came up, she took James by the hand, and as I followed, she said parents were not allowed to go in back. James said "Dad!" and looked at me nervously. I had a funny feeling about the whole thing, so we didn't go through with it. I think I bent their clipboard.
I found a more reasonable pediatric dentist who was willing to work with special needs. I marked the appointment date on the calendar, but James crossed it out, hoping that I would forget. I didn't. James was calm when we walked into the dentist's office. The assistant that walked us into the room was polite and even a bit attractive, but there was something unsettling about her. She sounded as if her mouth was wired partially shut, and her teeth were long and shiny. Too big, too porcelain, too surreal. I think I stared.
The dentist was friendly enough. He asked James to sit on the chair, but James refused. I had to pick him up and hold him down for about 30 seconds while the dentist looked him over. James cried, screamed, and squirmed the entire time. The dentist calmly remarked on how perfect and clean the rest of James's teeth were. (James refuses to brush.) He said that the teeth didn't look like they were going anywhere and needed to be removed. Since strapping him down for a bit just to extract two teeth might be traumatic for James, he did give me the option to have his baby teeth removed in a hospital while he was asleep. Although the procedure was more costly and would require a two month wait, I opted to do that instead.
While waiting for the next appointment I decided to check James's teeth again as he slept. After messing around a bit, I realized that his teeth were loose in a certain direction. James didn't stay still enough for the dentist to realize this. Over the next couple of weeks I wiggled his teeth at night, being careful to not wake him. Eventually his teeth fell out at school. No one noticed. When I asked James if he had swallowed them, he touched his mouth and said "no" nervously, so I'm not sure if he knows when they fell out.
Glad that's over. Two down, 28 to 32 left to go.
posted by Paul Short at 3:35 PM
14 Comments:
I too have a 5 year old with Autism and we have a heck of a time when it comes to the dentist. I feel you and your sons pain!
I have five children, none of them are special needs and it is challenge to raise them. I believe people like yourself who raise special needs children lovingly are true heros.
Hello, I found your site through IT2M ~ You have done a wonderful job of capturing your experiences in words! And you sound like a wonderful dad to me!!!
Hi! I'm visiting from IT2M as well. I read quite a few of your entries. I have 3 children, none of which are special needs, but I applaud you. You seem like a wonderful father, and you are beeming with pride.
One or our daughter's baby teeth did not all come out naturally and had to be pulled. I remember one particularly traumatic day when I had to peel her hands off the car seat to get her into the dentist! I can't even imagine dealing with this, in your circumstances.
I've missed seeing your blog lately.
I don't have any kids with special needs (other than the need eat IMMEDIATELY after refusing a meal) but I have never used a dentist that would not allow me to go back with them. We have walked out of a number of dentist offices over the years and I don't regret it a bit.
With younger kids, I usually have them sit on my lap and have the dentist check things in my mouth. Sometimes we go to a few appointments before they will allow the dentist to check in theirs. Dunno if this would help.
At their first appointment, I always held them (but not down) on my lap. They just layed on my body; that seemed to help alot.
Good luck and take care!
i think u're a really cool dad. i like the part that you had to wait for him to fall asleep before you could wiggle out his baby tooth. lots of effort there. i salute you.
goodluck to you and james.:)
I have a great dentist that has a lot of special needs paitents. He is awesome, but since I live in Calif. that does you no good.
We've done the dental exam asleep a few years back. My son Anthony is due for another this summer.
Nice post about dentist because is very important care for their teeth and I need to find cheap Generic Viagra but I don't know where I can find it
My son had the same thing --"shark teeth". We brought him to the pediatric dentist. He told us that it is not uncommon and we don't have to have the baby teeth extracted. Just help loosen them up and they will eventually fall off and the permanent teeth coming in will move forward to the front by itself. And that's exactly what happened. I am glad you did not have to do that sedating procedure. Sometimes we have to get a second opinion so we don't have to unnecessarily subject our kids to more trauma. Also, we talk to our son everyday about coming to the dentist and what they will do until the day comes. When it's time to go to the dentist, he is psyched. There is still a bit of nervousness but it's much less because he knows what to expect.Then we tell him something special h will have after the dentist apptmt. It usually works.
Aw, shark teeth. That's one of the things I don't want to happen when my niece's permanent teeth kick in. That's why I make it a point to remind my bro about taking her to one of those dentists Colorado Springs, Colorado has. That way, we're going to be sure that her teeth are in good shape! Oh, kudos to James for going through this bravely and successfully.
You made the right call in switching dentists. One of the most important things in bringing children to the dentist for the first time is to keep them calm and comfortable, and not having you in the clinic with him would have been traumatic. Good thing his teeth came out on their own (relatively). Good luck with future trips to the dentists! Let’s hope he’ll start to warm to them as the days go by.
This story made me laugh, especially the last part. I think when he answered “No”, he’s also thinking about it at the same time. Haha. Anyhow, it’s good that you’ve found a better dentist. Is he still James’ dentist?
You are amazing I don't get a prize when I go to the dentist I'm only 23
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